gentlefolk means people of superior social position. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
GENTLEFOLK — [Noun] People of good family and respectable birth, belonging to the gentry or a superior social class. From the Middle English 'gentil' (well-born, noble) + 'folk' (people). Unlike 'aristocracy,' which denotes a titled, heraldic apex, or 'commoners,' which bluntly marks the absence of rank, 'gentlefolk' delineates the cultivated stratum where standing is carried in bearing rather than a coronet. It is the quiet confidence of a well-kept library, the subdued clink of porcelain in a sunlit parlour, the unshakable certainty of one's name in the parish registry—a world ordered by unspoken codes, where privilege is worn as lightly as a familiar, well-tailored coat.
noun
- People of superior social position.“We ſay that Shores wife hath a prety foote, / A cherry lippe, a bonny eie, a paſſing pleaſing tongue: / And that the Queenes kindred are made gentlefolks.”